Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) diagrams

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A single PZT cell with a tetragonal shape and dipole.

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is an inorganic, ceramic, piezoelectric, crystal used in ultrasound transducers. The chemical formula of PZT is Pb[Zr(x), Ti(1-x)]O3 e.g. PbZr(0..52)Ti(0.48) O3. Each individual PZT lattice cell has piezoelectric potential due to the dipole created by asymmetry of the position of it's atoms. Newly-formed PZT crystals are a mixture of rhombohedral and tetragonal lattice cells due to a random orientation of their dipoles. Zr atoms tend to form rhombohedral cells and Ti atoms tend to form tetragonal cells. Before PZT can be used in ultrasound transducers it must be poled, in a process using heat and an electric field, to align the atom dipoles.